COMMENTARY: What’s the future of affordable housing in Lyons?

After the Town of Lyons closed on a buyout of the flood-damaged Foothills Mobile Home Park at the end of April with with federal Community Development Block Grant – Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) funds, households who used to live there now are eligible for the Uniform Relocation Assistance program. Also, renters from four other single-family-home buyouts that were completed with CDBG-DR funds are eligible.

Molly O’Donnell, a CDBG Disaster Recovery Project Manager from the City of Longmont, works on the Boulder County Collaborative group, which determines priorities for CDBG-DR funds. She said that the collaborative is generally working with 16 households in Lyons, who either lived at the Foothills mobile home park or rented one of four single family homes that are part of the CDBG-DR buyout program. Three households have already received their benefits.

According to the Uniform Relocation Assistance (URA), responsibilities for residential displacements like the Town of Lyons CDBG-DR buyouts include providing relocation advisory services to displaced tenants and owner occupants, reimbursement for moving expenses, and providing payments for the added cost of renting or purchasing comparable replacement housing.

In general, under the URA program, O’Donnell explained that households have 12 months from the date they are issued a notice of eligibility for relocation assistance to either purchase or lease and occupy a dwelling unit (that is determined to be decent, safe, and sanitary) and 6 months from that date to claim their benefits.

“However, we are working to complete the process and pay out all the benefits as soon as possible so these people can move on with their lives,” she said. “Not all 20 households will receive benefits since several have opted not to participate in the program. One property has not yet been purchased, so the notice of eligibility to that house’s tenants is still pending, we expect to complete that property purchase as soon as possible.”

One of the tenants who already received the benefits, Carrie Gonzales, was able to buy a $50,000 home outright in Raton, N.M., using the lump sum Uniform Relocation Assistance settlement and a small amount of savings. She closed on May 15, and she and partner Kevin expect to move by mid-to-late June.

“It was a blessing, but it has been a long and painful journey,” Gonzales said. She said she is sad to leave Lyons, and her heart is with all her neighbors who are still struggling to find affordable places to live after losing their homes in the 2013 flood.

The URA program wasn’t available for displaced residents whose landlords didn’t participate in the buyout program for flood-damaged properties. For example, Gonzales, who originally lived in the Riverbend Mobile Home Park, wouldn’t have been eligible even though she couldn’t return to live at Riverbend after the flood. The Lyons Board of Trustees approved the property owners’ request to change zoning of the Riverbend Mobile Home Park property to a commercial use, and it is now an event venue with vacation lodging in tiny homes on wheels. However, Gonzales later rented a house on the west end of the Foothills Mobile Home Park land, whose owner, John Barranway, did participate in the CDBG-funded buyout, which closed April 28 of this year, and all tenants for this property were eligible for URA benefits.

“Without the buyout program, the owners of these rental units would not have had a mechanism to sell their substantially damaged properties for pre-flood market values, and the tenants of those units would not have qualified for URA benefits,” O’Donnell said.

All land purchased with the federal funds as part of the the CDBG-DR or the FEMA Hazard Mitigation Grant Program buyout programs is now owned by the Town of Lyons. The deed-restricted buy-out properties can be used as open space or recreational land. If the Town of Lyons plans to use any of the properties as recreational land in the future, the only structures that are allowed are open-sided pavilions/shelters and public restrooms. Trails must be soft-surface (such as gravel).

The URA provides payments to the former tenants (either renters or mobile home owners who paid lot rent) for the added cost of renting or purchasing comparable replacement housing. O’Donnell explained that URA replacement housing benefits are determined by a calculation that considers 1) the monthly rent and cost of utility services for a comparable replacement dwelling, 2) the monthly rent and cost of utility services for the home that households were displaced from, and 3) for low-income households, housing costs of 30 percent of their average monthly gross household income. The maximum URA payment is calculated on the difference in the old and new housing costs for a one-month period and multiplied by 42 (the number of months allowed by the URA to be included in the calculation).

If a displaced household wants to purchase a unit rather than rent, then the URA benefit comes in the form of a lump-sum payment for down payment assistance. For renters, the URA is received every month for 3½ years (42 months).

O’Donnell said that the calculation is independent of prior federal disaster assistance received, with one exception: unused FEMA rental assistance.

In addition, under the URA, payment for moving expenses is also allowed. O’Donnell said the moving expenses payment is based on a payment for actual reasonable moving and related expenses, a fixed moving payment in the amount of $1,425 (based on the URA Fixed Residential Moving Cost Schedule), or a combination of both, not to exceed the actual costs for a move using a commercial moving company.

Finally, the URA allows for relocation advisory services. O’Donnell said that the Boulder County Collaborative has a URA subject matter expert consulting firm on board since last year providing relocation advisory services to the tenants. “Our contact there is in close coordination with each of the tenants to walk them through the process, explain their rights and responsibilities, provide status updates, coordinate obtaining the paperwork necessary to calculate and process the benefit payments, finding comparable replacement dwellings and conducting inspections, and assist with determining moving costs and resources.”

Gonzales said that finding another place to live that she could afford was extremely challenging. That she found the home in New Mexico with a seller who was willing to work with her unknown schedule of receiving the URA funds was like “a game of roulette,” she said.

In the 3 ½ years since the Lyons flood, Gonzales pursued several options, including advocating for a new or rebuilt mobile home park in Lyons and trying to find a location that would take an older mobile home that her partner owned that was not damaged in the flood. (She shared some of her information with the researchers who wrote theManufactured Housing and Flood Recovery in Lyons, Coloradoreport that was prepared in 2015.) Gonzales rented a house on Apple Valley Road, with much a higher rent, until she found the house available to rent on the west end of the former Foothills Mobile Home Park land. In the past months of working with the URA, she also looked into moving to a mobile home park in Platteville, Colo., but those lot spaces were already taken before the buyout closing completed in Lyons.

In Raton, “We found a place where we are very welcome,” Gonzales said. Because of a health condition that limits the distance she can drive, Gonzales is glad to have bought a home that is in a mile of everything she needs to drive to, and within walking distance of downtown. She said that Raton, with a population of 6,000 people, lost residents after mining industry left town and wants to attract new people and encourage economic development.

The URA program that looked for similar homes in Lyons to what she had been renting before the buyout found only a house for rent near the school that was $2100 a month. Now, instead, she owns a home outright and only has utility payments and property taxes to pay.

Gonzales, who worked for Madhava Honey for 13 years and then ran her own honey store on Hwy 66 east of town since 2012, is bringing a stock of honey to Raton, and plans to work out of her home. But living only a few blocks from downtown, she might find a perfect store front. One of her suppliers is in Rocky Ford, Colo., a lot closer to Raton than Lyons, and she is already meeting people who keep bees in Raton.

It’s been hard to leave friends and to leave Lyons, which was not made whole after the flood, Gonzales says. She is sad, thinking of her pre-flood neighbors who still aren’t able to return to Lyons or to find an affordable living situation after the flood. “But we’re telling people to come join us. You can do a whole lot in Raton. There’s a lot of opportunity for energetic, artistic people.”

Her final step is working with the relocation companies bidding to handle her move through the URA program. A last-minute and stressful issue that came up from one of the companies: an additional $5,000 mileage cost because she is moving more than 50 miles away. She is hoping to get that issue resolved or reduced to a fee she can afford, but still expects the moving date to be either middle or end of June, depending on which moving company gets the bid.

The Town of Lyons purchased the 1.26-acre former Foothills Mobile Home Park on April 28 for $662,165, using CDBG-DR funds. The Town of Lyons was required to grant a 90-day notice after the April 28 closing date to all current tenants (in this case, Gonzales and her partner). After tenants move out, the demolition of the flood-damaged mobile homes on the eastern part of the property can begin. The time-frame requirements for reimbursements of demolition and cleanup costs are mandated by the federal funding sources.

The Lyons Board of Trustees approved a resolution on May 10, ratifying expenditures of up to $591,386 of CDBG-DR Replacement Housing Payment funds (part of the Uniform Relocation Assistance program), available for homeowners and tenants who lived at the Foothills Mobile Home Park, and also 4 other single-family-home buyouts that were completed with CDBG-DR funds. The trustees passed a resolution that approves the expenditure of the Replacement Housing Payment program funds for tenants of the 104 5th Avenue (Foothills Mobile Home Park), 415 Prospect Street, 417 Evans Street, 109 Park Street, and 323 5th Avenue.

I don’t know if any of the Lyons participants in the URA benefits will use the funds to rent or buy in Lyons, because the difficulty of finding affordable rentals and homes for sale in Lyons. O’Donnell said the Boulder County collaborative doesn’t know how many households will using funds to rent or buy in the Lyons area or Boulder County. “It is entirely the household’s choice,” she said. “Most are still in the process of determining the benefit calculation.”

After the September 2013 flood, the Town of Lyons lost a total of about 70 flood-destroyed homes to both the federal buyout programs (including the 16 homes in the Foothills Mobile Home Park) and to the changed use of the Riverbend Mobile Home Park property to an event venue (rezoned for commercial use). For history of post-flood efforts for affordable housing in Lyons, you can read previous columns posted on my blog at lyonscoloradonews.wordpress.com. This is a weekly commentary (opinion column) in the Lyons Recorder about affordable housing. If you have any questions, comments, or complaints about this column, please contact me directly at areinholds @hotmail.com.

Federal funds budgeted for households moved from buyout properties

COMMENTARY: AFFORDABLE HOUSING IN LYONS

By Amy ReinholdsAffordable Housing ColumnistRedstone Review

LYONS – After the Town of Lyons closed on a buyout of the flood-damaged Foothills Mobile Home Park at the end of April with with federal Community Development Block Grant – Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) funds, households who used to live there now are eligible for the Uniform Relocation Assistance program.

On May 10, the Lyons Board of Trustees approved a resolution ratifies expenditures of up to $591,386 of CDBG-DR Replacement Housing Payment funds (part of the Uniform Relocation Assistance program), available for homeowners and tenants who lived at the Foothills Mobile Home Park, and also 4 other single-family-home buyouts that were completed with CDBG-DR funds. With the 16 households in the Foothills Mobile Home park, that makes 20 households from Lyons that will receive assistance and funds for new living situations.

The trustees passed a resolution that approves the expenditure of the Replacement Housing Payment program funds for tenants of the 104 5th Avenue (Foothills Mobile Home Park), 415 Prospect Street, 417 Evans Street, 109 Park Street, and 323 5th Avenue.

The former 1.26-acre Foothills Mobile Home Park at 104 5th Street, had 16 residential units, some rented lots for owned mobile homes, and some rented units, most which were destroyed by the 2013 flood. The State of Colorado set priorities for how the FEMA funds from the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program could be used for buyouts of flood-destroyed homes, prioritizing single family homes (the buyouts Lyons saw in the past year) over the Foothills Mobile Home Park, considered a commercial property. But the buyout of the Foothills Mobile Home Park was completed with CDBG-DR funds instead.

The Town of Lyons is required to grant a 90-day notice after the April 28 closing date to a current renter of a house at the west end of the property. Then after those 90 days, when the tenant moves out, the demolition can begin. The time-frame requirements for reimbursements of demolition and cleanup costs are mandated by the federal funding sources.

The Uniform Relocation Assistance program is good news for people who receive these additional funds, something that wasn’t available for displaced residents whose landlords didn’t participate in the buyout program for flood-damaged properties. I’m not sure if anyone will use those funds to rent or buy in Lyons, because the difficulty of finding affordable rentals and homes for sale in Lyons. However, if people want to share their stories, I hope to cover this topic in future columns.

Here’s an update on the latest steps toward affordable housing in Lyons in the past month:

A free-market approach that aims to encourage more lower-cost rentals: The first official detached accessory dwelling unit (ADU) in Lyons was approved through the conditional use process, with no additional tap fees, under an ordinance changed at the end of last year to encourage more small apartments (also called mother-in-law apartments or carriage houses) as long-term affordable rentals for people who work in town. The original Town of Lyons ADU ordinance, established in 2013 after the flood, allowed small apartments to be permitted on single-family residential lots, but no homeowners in Lyons applied to participate in the program for those 3 years. At the end of 2016, the Planning and Community Development Commission and the Board of Trustees voted to change town code, removing the additional utility connection fees for “detached” ADUs in separate buildings from the main house on single-family residential lots in town limits. On May 1, the trustees approved a proposed detached ADU on property located in the R-1 residential zoned district at 327 Seward Street. The proposed ADU will in an existing garage that is currently 520 square feet, expanded to be a total of 600 square feet. It will be adjoining a separate recording studio building.

A permanently affordable home-ownership model: Habitat for Humanity of the St. Vrain Valley asked for more flexibility to adjust the area-median-income target to help the Town of Lyons get more applicants in the primary preference group of people who were living in Lyons at the time of the flood and were displaced. The trustees agreed to changing the development agreement and affordable housing covenant so that households that make 80% of the area median income can also be included, although preference will be for applicants 60% of area median income or below. Although the median income of an area (Boulder County, in our case) changes every year, you can get an idea by going to the Boulder County Area Median Income Table atwww.leaflyons.org/resources.html. For example, the area median income for a household of two people is about $75,900, so 60% is $45,540, and 80% is $60,720. Area median income is measured by family/household size. Second reading for the resolution to change the development agreement with Habitat for Humanity is expected May 15. At the end of 2016, Habitat for Humanity of the St. Vrain Valley purchased 6 residential lots in Lyons to build three permanently affordable duplexes. So far, applicants have been selected for 2 out of the 6 homes.

After the September 2013 flood, the Town of Lyons lost a total of about 70 flood-destroyed homes to both the federal buyout programs (including the 16 homes in the Foothills Mobile Home Park) and to the changed use of the Riverbend Mobile Home Park property to an event venue (rezoned for commercial use). For history of post-flood efforts for affordable housing in Lyons, you can read previous columns posted on my blog at lyonscoloradonews.wordpress.com. This column is a monthly commentary (opinion column) in the Redstone Review about affordable housing. If you have any questions, comments, or complaints about this column, contact me directly at areinholds@hotmail.com.

Amy Reinholds served on the Lyons Housing Recovery Task Force from December 2013 through its end in February 2015. She is currently a member of the Lyons Human Services and Aging Commission and served as a liaison to the Special Housing Committee during its existence from April 2015-April 2016. She has lived in Lyons since 2003 and in the surrounding Lyons area since 1995.

COMMENTARY: AFFORDABLE HOUSING IN LYONS

LYONS –Since last month’s column, two closing dates are scheduled in April that might affect affordable housing.

Town of Lyons to buy former water treatment plant from Longmont

The Town of Lyons plans to close on purchasing the former water treatment plant from the City of Longmont on April 25.

In March, the Town of Lyons and the City of Longmont agreed on a sales price of $925,000 for the land, east of U.S. 36: 6.45 acres on the north side of Colo. Hwy. 66 at 4651 Ute Hwy and 3.43 acres on south side at 4652 Ute Hwy. FEMA will pay for the part of the land where the Lyons public works building will be relocated, on 2 acres in the furthest northeast corner of the northern parcel. Insurance funds from the Colorado Intergovernmental Risk Sharing Agency (CIRSA) will pay for the new public works building, which was damaged in 2013 flood. On March 20, the Lyons Board of Trustees unanimously approved both purchasing the Longmont water treatment plant land and ratifying the Lyons Primary Planning Area Master Plan, an amendment to the Lyons Comprehensive Plan to guide decisions about future annexation requests.

According to an attorney report to the Lyons Planning and Community Development Commission (PCDC) on April 10, state law has different requirements for town-owned land, which can be annexed into town limits directly without assigning zoning, but the property must be zoned by 90 days after the annexation. The plan for annexing the 9.88 acres is for the Board of Trustees to hold two readings of an annexation ordinance on May 1 and May 15. Although not required for this annexation step, the trustees expect to hold a public hearing (for members of the public to comment) at the second reading on May 15. Then the Town of Lyons officials and staff will come up with a schedule for subdivision and zoning and will bring it back to the PCDC for the zoning process when the final plat is ready (before July 25, to meet the 90-day requirement).

In 2015, Lyons was awarded a $750,000 grant from the U.S. Economic Development Agency as matching funds to extend the sewer and water to this site in order to increase the likelihood of development and increase the employment base in Lyons. The utilities expansion work must begin by mid-June to not lose the funding. Then the next priority is to zone the 2 acres where the Lyons public works building will be located for municipal use.

After the Town of Lyons has the land, The Board of Trustees can determine the best path forward for the remainder of the parcels, and when sold, reimburse the town water enterprise fund. The land is acceptable for mixed use, residential, and commercial development, including light industrial. The town might also consider offering incentives for light-industrial businesses to swap land near the center of town that could be residential for land on the eastern corridor.

The parcels have been considered as a possible area for affordable housing, discussed in past years when the town applied for a national resiliency grant that it did not receive. Also, if light-industrial businesses move from central areas of town to this eastern corridor area, land could open up for future affordable housing in more centrally located areas.

Federal buyout for the former Foothills Mobile Home Park

The Town of Lyons is set to close April 28 with the owner of the former Foothills Mobile Home Park on a buyout with federal Community Development Block Grant – Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) funds.

The former 1.26-acre Foothills Mobile Home Park at 104 5th Street, had 16 residential units, some rented lots for owned mobile homes, and some rented units, most which were destroyed by the 2013 flood. The State of Colorado set priorities for how the FEMA funds from the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program could be used for buyouts of flood-destroyed homes, prioritizing single family homes (the buyouts Lyons saw in the past year) over the Foothills Mobile Home Park, considered a commercial property. But now the buyout can be completed with the CDBG-DR funds. The appraisal value and sale price will be public information when the sale is completed.

The buyout will be a welcome move for owner John Baranway, who has expressed since the flood that he wanted to develop a new mobile home park, if he received buyout funds and was able to buy other property in the Lyons area that is out of the floodplain. And this buyout also provides some additional federal funds under the Uniform Relocation Act to the 16 displaced households of the Foothills Mobile Home Park – funds that are only available for mobile home park residents displaced by a federal buyout.

And for neighbors, this buyout is an opportunity for an extension of undeveloped, deed-restricted buyout land, and completed demolition and cleanup of remnants of the destroyed mobile homes.

The Town of Lyons is required to grant a 90-day notice after the April 28 closing date to a current renter of a house at the west end of the property. Then after those 90 days, when the tenant moves out, the demolition can begin. The time-frame requirements for reimbursements of demolition and cleanup costs are mandated by the federal funding sources.

After the September 2013 flood, the Town of Lyons lost a total of about 70 flood-destroyed homes to both the federal buyout programs (including the 16 homes in the Foothills Mobile Home Park) and to the changed use of the Riverbend Mobile Home Park property to an event venue (rezoned for commercial use). For history of post-flood efforts for affordable housing in Lyons, you can read previous columns posted on my blog at lyonscoloradonews.wordpress.com. This column is a monthly commentary (opinion column) in the Redstone Review about affordable housing. If you have any questions, comments, or complaints about this column, contact me directly at areinholds@ hotmail.com.

COMMENTARY: What’s the future of affordable housing in Lyons?

Pre-closing documents signed for Foothills Mobile Home Park buyout

by Amy Reinholds

After years of negotiations with state and federal officials about funding for a post-disaster buyout of a flood-destroyed mobile home park, the Town of Lyons signed pre-closing documents with the owner of the former Foothills Mobile Home Park on Monday.

Lyons Town Administrator Victoria Simonsen reported at the April 3 Board of Trustees meeting during a staff report that pre-closing documents were completed that day, and the closing date was expected to be in three weeks. (As of the Lyons Recorder deadline, the closing date was not yet finalized by the title company. It is now set for April 28. )

The former 1.26-acre Foothills Mobile Home Park at 104 5th Street had 16 residential units, some rented lots for owned mobile homes, and some rented units, most which were destroyed by the Sept. 2013 flood. The Town of Lyons will complete this buyout with federal Community Development Block Grant – Disaster Recovery funds. The State of Colorado set priorities for how the FEMA funds from the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program could be used for buyouts of flood-destroyed homes, prioritizing single family homes (the buyouts Lyons saw in the past year) over the Foothills Mobile Home Park, considered a commercial property. But now the buyout can be completed with the Community Development Block Grant funds. The appraisal value and sale price will be public information when the sale is completed.

Finalizing a closing date for the buyout will be a welcome move for owner John Baranway, who has expressed since the flood that he wanted to develop a new mobile home park, if he received buyout funds and was able to buy other property in the Lyons area that is out of the floodplain. And this buyout also provides some additional federal funds under the Uniform Relocation Act to the 16 displaced households of the Foothills Mobile Home Park – funds that are only available for mobile home park residents displaced by a federal buyout.

And for neighbors, this buyout is an opportunity for an extension of undeveloped, deed-restricted buyout land, and completed demolition and cleanup of remnants of the destroyed mobile homes. Deed-Restricted Buy Out Properties (DR BOP) Use and Management Plan meetings have been going on since November. A Neighborhood Lot Handbook meeting is scheduled for April 12 at 6-7:30 p.m. at Lyons Town Hall.

The Town of Lyons is required to grant a 90-day notice after the April 28 closing date to a current renter of a house at the west end of the property. Then after those 90 days, when the tenant moves out, the demolition can begin. The time-frame requirements for reimbursements of demolition and cleanup costs are mandated by the federal funding sources.

Look for more details in upcoming columns as information becomes available.

To learn about possible options for new mobile home parks in Lyons, see the Manufactured Housing and Flood Recovery in Lyons, Colorado report that was prepared in 2015. The study was commissioned by the Lyons Emergency Assistance Fund (LEAF) in November 2014 to understand the potential role of manufactured housing in Lyons’ long-term flood recovery.

The report defines “manufactured houses, sometimes called mobile homes or trailer homes,” as “housing units that are built in a factory and on a permanent steel chassis” and describes the role of mobile homes in Lyons before the 2013 flood and demographics of who lived in mobile home parks affected by the flood. The report describes the damage to the Foothills Mobile Home Park and the Riverbend Mobile Home Park, the local, state, and federal regulations, flood recovery fund eligibility, potential strengths and weaknesses as a type of affordable housing, and potential scenarios for new mobile home parks.

This is a weekly commentary (opinion column) in the Lyons Recorder about affordable housing. If you have any questions, comments, or complaints about this column, please contact me directly at areinholds @hotmail.com. For a history of post-flood efforts for affordable housing in Lyons, you can read previous columns from both Lyons-area newspapers posted on my blog atlyonscoloradonews.wordpress.com. The Town of Lyons lost a total of about 70 flood-destroyed homes to both the federal buyout programs (including the 16 homes in the Foothills Mobile Home Park) and to the changed use of the Riverbend Mobile Home Park property to an event venue (rezoned for commercial use). In March 2015, a proposal for subsidized, affordable Boulder County Housing Authority rentals and some Habitat for Humanity for-sale affordable homes (a total of 50-70 units) on five to seven acres of Bohn Park was voted down 614 to 498 by Town of Lyons voters in a special election. At the end of 2016, Habitat for Humanity of the St. Vrain Valley purchased six residential lots in Lyons to build three permanently affordable duplexes.

COMMENTARY: What’s the future of affordable housing in Lyons?

What’s up with the Lyons Primary Planning Area Master Plan?

by Amy Reinholds

I wasn’t able to attend the community wrap-up meeting of the Lyons Primary Planning Area Master Plan on Oct. 20 because I was out of town. (I was in Austin, Texas, staying in a registered, legal AirBnb, in a gentrified neighborhood with a high cost of living, but I’ll save that story for another column.)

The Lyons Primary Planning Area is an area of Boulder County on the outskirts of Town of Lyons limits, where landowners in the area are allowed to petition to annex into the town, based on an agreement between the Town of Lyons and Boulder County originally, established in 2002 (before many of us even lived in Lyons).

As you can see when you read the Lyons Primary Planning Area Master Plan website, there have been planning workshops with neighbors and members of the public, starting in March of this year for each of three subareas: the Eastern Corridor (original workshops in March-April), South St. Vrain (original workshops in May-June), and Apple Valley (original workshops in July-September). What was reported in the wrap-up presentation on Oct. 20 is based on the work from all nine of those previous workshops, conducted by consultants from Ricker|Cunningham, a practice of Real Estate Economists, and planners and engineers from Kimley-Horn, where you, or if not you, your neighbors attended and gave input.

The reason the Town of Lyons is completing a Master Plan for the Lyons Primary Planning Area is because of an Intergovernmental Agreement (also called an IGA) between the Town of Lyons and Boulder County, first established in 2002, and updated in 2012, that defines the area surrounding Lyons that landowners can petition to annex into town. The Primary Planning Area Master Plan will guide Town of Lyons decision makers, including the current and future Board of Trustees, on how to make decisions when presented with petitions for annexation. As residents of Lyons or residents in the adjacent county neighborhoods, we don’t want future decisions about how land can be used to be made ad hoc by town leaders, even if it’s years or decades before any landowners petition to annex.

As the Master Plan website describes it: “While the agreement has been in place for more than a decade, little planning for the area has occurred, and none at a level of detail sufficient to inform the decisions of elected officials. Since land use and design recommendations for a community’s extraterritorial jurisdiction must be defined and consistent with those in the current adopted master plan [the Lyons Comprehensive Plan] before properties in this location may be incorporated into the municipal boundaries, the Lyons Primary Planning Area Master Plan (LPPA) will be used to guide future annexation and development decisions by representatives of the Town of Lyons.”

Because of my interest in finding creative ways to encourage and implement affordable housing in Lyons, I prioritized attending all three of the Eastern Corridor meetings, where there were the most opportunities for future residential, mixed in with commercial – providing workforce housing, as supported by the Town of Lyons Comprehensive Plan. I was able to attend the final Apple Valley workshop but wasn’t able to attend any of the South St. Vrain workshops. Although both the Apple Valley and South St. Vrain areas could have some small-lot residential use if land owners annex to town, it doesn’t seem likely that physical, regulatory, and economic limitations would be overcome for mixed-income housing to include many homes affordable to retired people, or people who make less than the area median income.

That’s why I think the Eastern Corridor could be the most likely part of the Primary Planning Area for new residential areas that include affordable housing for various income levels. Affordable housing, senior housing, small cottages, and mixed residential, business, and retail use were some of the land uses that the public strongly supported for the Eastern Corridor.

The Town of Lyons lost about 70 flood-destroyed homes to the federal buyout programs (including one expected mobile home park buyout) and a second mobile home park property that is no longer used as a mobile home park. Some neighbors have told me that they don’t want the town of Lyons to grow, but we’ve got to face the fact that the town has shrunk after the September 2013 flood. Shouldn’t we make wise plans to allow Lyons to get back to the size it used to be before the flood? What is the best way to define how to allow annexation in the Primary Planning Area that is already set for Lyons? What does the Chamber of Commerce and the Lyons Economic Development Commission think? I’m interested to find out. Ask your friends and neighbors who run local small businesses about whether they are able to find employees who can afford to live in Lyons.

According to previous presentations about the Primary Planning Area, build-out of undeveloped parcels only within current town boundaries will result in a budgetary deficit. Based on 72 acres within the town limits and densities for their current zoning, the balance of revenue generation from residential and non-residential was be projected to be $119,228, but total service costs to the town was projected to be $172,075 per year, resulting in a deficit of $52,846 or 31% per year.

However, it doesn’t seem likely that new residential property (affordable to lower incomes or higher incomes) in the Primary Planning area will be annexed and developed quickly. According to the Primary Planning Area website, “Based on findings from the planning process that revealed a significant number of conditions (floodways, steep slopes, conservation easements, critical habitat areas, etc), severe enough to effectively delay and increase the cost of development within properties in the Subject Area, the Town anticipates that annexation requests, if any, will be submitted on a parcel-by-parcel basis. Given the number of property owners in the LPPA, nearly 200, officials further expect that it will take several decades to realize significant levels of investment across the entire LPPA.”

The first draft of the Lyons Primary Planning Area Master Plan is slated to go to the Lyons Board of Trustees on Nov. 21. All Board of Trustees meetings start at 7 p.m. and include periods for public input.

For a history of post-flood efforts for affordable housing in Lyons, you can read previous columns posted on my blog athttps://lyonscoloradonews.wordpress.com. All town meetings of the elected Lyons Board of Trustees and appointed town boards and commissions are open to the public and are supposed to be posted on the town calendar atwww.townoflyons.com/calendar.aspx. If you have any questions, comments, or complaints about this column, please contact me directly at areinholds @hotmail.com.

Amy Reinholds served on the Lyons Housing Recovery Task Force from December 2013 through its end in February 2015. She is currently a member of the Lyons Human Services and Aging Commission and served as a liaison to the Special Housing Committee from 2015-2016. She has lived in Lyons since 2003 and in the surrounding Lyons area since 1995.

COMMENTARY: What’s the future of affordable housing in Lyons?

Habitat for Humanity updates

As we head into October, Lyons will likely see more progress toward affordable housing and post-flood replacement housing, with expected closings and continued rebuilding work in the next month.

Documentation for subdivision of land at 2nd and Park Streets is being reviewed this week and is expected to be recorded with Boulder County soon. Then the closing for Habitat for Humanity of the St. Vrain Valley to purchase 6 residential lots could be completed by October.

In July of this year, the Board of Trustees unanimously approved final rezoning and subdivision steps to allow 6 residential lots at 2nd and Park to be sold to Habitat for Humanity of the St. Vrain Valley. The 6 lots for 3 duplexes can be sold to Habitat for Humanity after the plat is recorded, and the former bank building will remain on a separate commercial lot. Habitat for Humanity will complete the required subdivision improvements for the residential lots, planning to begin these improvements after closing on purchasing the lots from landowners Downtown Lyons Development, LLC.

In June 2015, Craig Ferguson purchased the 0.76-acre parcel from Valley Bank, and the previous Board of Trustees voted unanimously to waive water and sewer connection fees that they have control over for the proposed Habitat for Humanity homes. The total of about $173,500 in savings will help Habitat for Humanity meet its permitting and fees budget, keeping mortgages down to about $150,000 for homeowners. Habitat for Humanity acts as a builder and a lender of no-interest loans for homeowners.

The 6 residential lots will be permanently affordable, based on a covenants for resale, administered by Habitat for Humanity. First preference is for applicants who were living in the 80540 zip code during the flood and were displaced. Second and third preferences are for applicants from surrounding areas who were displaced by the 2013 flood, and current local residents, students, and employees of 80540 who weren’t displaced. Habitat for Humanity hopes that all 6 homes will be filled with people in the primary preference category and knows of three interested applicants who have been living out of state since they were displaced by the flood.

Applicants who meet the preference requirements must also qualify for the Habitat for Humanity program. Households must demonstrate a need for housing (examples include paying more than a third of your family income on rent, not qualifying for a traditional loan, or living somewhere that is not able to be maintained for health and safety), a willingness to partner with the Habitat for Humanity program (including volunteering hours to build their home and other homes), and ability to pay the mortgage and provide a down-payment (some assistance is available). Habitat homeowners get no-interest mortgages but agree to put in up to 500 hours of “sweat equity,” depending on family size, on both their own homes and other homes in the community. If anyone is interested in applying for home ownership, call Habitat for Humanity of the St. Vrain Valley 303-682-2485 and ask for Erin McDermott or Julie Gallegos.

Habitat for Humanity of the St. Vrain Valley is also leading volunteer crews this fall on a Habitat ReBuild project on Mark Bray’s home in the confluence neighborhood of Lyons. The foundation and home have been raised above the flood plain, and Habitat teams of volunteers are working on Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays through October to reconstruct and finish the first floor of the home.

No experience or tools are necessary, and volunteers will be trained on construction tasks on site. Habitat asks people to register ahead of time so that they have enough materials and supervision so that everyone can be productive. The work day begins at 8:30 a.m., with about an hour for lunch, and an expected end time of 4:30 p.m. Everyone must be present for a mandatory safety orientation at the start of the day.

Sign up for a day on the online build schedule atwww.stvrainhabitat.org/flood-repair-volunteer-opportunities. Anyone who would prefer to register by phone or email, or who has questions about this Habitat ReBuild project, can contact Habitat for Humanity of the St. Vrain Valley at 303-682-2485 x 102 orvolunteer@stvrainhabitat.org. The ReBuild program, Habitat’s critical home repair program, is designed to help homeowners affected by the September 2013 floods.

I’m grateful that here in Lyons, we have many opportunities to get off the couch, get away from our computers and the routine of our jobs, and help others. We can gain experience volunteering with Habitat for Humanity this fall, so we’ll all be ready to work on the new homes at 2nd and Park when volunteers are needed there.

Another closing that is expected in October is the post-disaster buyout with federal disaster recovery funds for the landlord of the former 1.26-acre Foothills Mobile Home Park at 104 5th Street. After the flood, the current owner, John Baranway, said he wanted to develop a new mobile home park, if he received the buyout for the Foothills mobile home park and was able to buy other property in the Lyons area.

For a history of post-flood efforts for affordable housing in Lyons, you can read previous columns posted on my blog athttps://lyonscoloradonews.wordpress.com. All town meetings of the elected Lyons Board of Trustees and appointed town boards and commissions are open to the public and posted on the town calendar atwww.townoflyons.com/calendar.aspx. If you have any questions, comments, or complaints about this column, please contact me directly at areinholds @hotmail.com.

Amy Reinholds served on the Lyons Housing Recovery Task Force from December 2013 through its end in February 2015. She is currently a member of the Lyons Human Services and Aging Commission and served as a liaison to the Special Housing Committee from 2015-2016. She has lived in Lyons since 2003 and in the surrounding Lyons area since 1995.

COMMENTARY: What’s the future of affordable housing in Lyons?

Committee discusses updates on ADUs, options for MHP owner

by Amy Reinholds

At a special housing committee meeting Monday, members of the committee discussed with Cody Humphrey, Lyons housing recovery coordinator,what options exist for the former Foothills Mobile Home Park owner who has said he wants to rebuild. John Baranway is on a list for buyout funds for his flood-damaged property, expected this fall, Humphrey said. Baranway wants to build a 16-unit mobile home park in Lyons again but does not yet have a property development team together that could address applying for grants or evaluate potential land for needed site improvements and other planning needs. Chair Justin Spencer and Wendy Miller discussed possibilities: how the possible future affordable housing tap fee policy could apply to manufactured housing parks if landlords could guarantee a permanently affordable rental policy, and how to encourage affordable housing in town by helping potential landlords like Baranway find property development teams to work with.

The housing committee still has a decreased membership since the group formed in April, because three members have quit. There are only four current members, and only three members who attended the July 9 meeting: Spencer, Miller, and Martin Soosloff, who had to leave early. Nate Mohatt hasn’t been able to attend any meetings since June 18, but Susanne Ducker, a new Lyons resident who has been attending meetings, submitted an application for the committee at the end of last week. The June 13 meeting of the special housing committee at the Town Hall Annex only had two members attend: Spencer and Miller, and two liaisons: Humphrey and me.

Although down to a smaller group, the special housing committee still aims to accomplish work through subcommittees: to work with the Utilities and Engineering Board on a tap fee policy for affordable housing, to work with the Planning and Community Development Commission (PCDC) on encouraging residents to build accessory dwelling units or mother-in-law apartments, to identify potential sites for affordable housing, to identify options for affordable rentals, and to identify options for manufactured housing.

I agreed to follow up with the PCDC on the continuing discussion about how to encourage more accessory dwelling units, also called mother-in-law apartments, guest houses, or the acronym ADUs. At the July 9 special housing committee working meeting, I reported that a first draft of an educational hand-out for Lyons homeowners interested in creating apartments on their properties has been created, and town staff are finalizing the information.

I talked to Michelle Allen, PCDC chair, who said that homeowners need to decide whether building apartments is right for them, and they need to weigh the costs and benefits, so providing answers to common questions can aid them in making informed decisions. For example, homeowners need to decide whether they have $10,000 to $20,000 that they can invest in creating an ADU or whether they could get a construction loan to cover those costs. With market-rate rents, homeowners might be able to recoup their costs in 2 years if they don’t take out a loan, or maybe 5-10 years if they do have a loan.

The PCDC also asked town staff to determine what tap fees apply to internal ADUs like basement apartments or additions and what tap fees apply to separate buildings outside the main home. Basically hidden apartments, these units don’t change a single family zone in Lyons into a multifamily zone. It’s no different than having roommates or other family members, except a newly constructed apartment with a full kitchen gives the homeowners advantages in rental income for an full living space with a separate entrance.

The PCDC recommended that the town find a way to fund promoting information in a workshop and educational materials, including the following items:

the ABCs of being a landlord

how to estimate costs of creating an ADU

how to submit for a building permit

how to hire subcontractors to do the work

how to check in with homeowners associations and insurance companies for required changes

a simple cost-benefit analysis of building ADUs

A future workshop held by the town staff and the PCDC would then answer questions people have about everything entailed in creating new apartments, including those who have never been landlords before. Maybe there could also be a workshop for small contractors to understand the process and help their clients create this new housing. Are there local contractors who can help people create ADUs?

ADUs can be a market-rate option to increase housing stock. Costs can be lower than renting entire homes because the units are smaller and might be less attractive because located in basement, for example. But ADUs cannot be sold separately, and I have not seen likely scenarios to force affordable rents like you can with deed restrictions for owner-occupied homes or non-profit and government affordable rental programs.

The next meeting of the special housing committee is a working meeting at 8:30 p.m. on Thursday, July 16, at the Lyons Valley Village Community House. The special housing committee regular meetings are now on 2nd and 4th Wednesdays at 5:30-6:30 p.m. at the Town Hall annex behind the Barking Dog – the next meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, July 22. The working meetings to tackle subcommittee issues are on Thursdays of the alternating weeks when regular meetings are not held on Wednesdays. Check the town calendar and town email for any updates. All housing committee meetings are open to the public and published on the Town of Lyons calendar at http://www.townoflyons.com/calendar. Keep following my columns in both Lyons papers for updates about what has and has not been accomplished. For background on the special housing committee and to read previous weeks’ columns, see http://www.lyonsrecorder.com/index.php/lyons-chatter/6026-what-s-the-future-for-affordable-housing-in-lyons.

Amy Reinholds served on the Lyons Housing Recovery Task Force from December 2013 through its end in February 2015. She is currently a member of the Lyons Human Services and Aging Commission and serves as a liaison to the special housing committee. She has lived in Lyons for 11 years and in the surrounding Lyons area since 1995.

Editor/Author of this blog

Amy Reinholds served on the Housing Recovery Task Force in Lyons, Colo., from December 2013 through its end in February 2015. She is currently a member of the Lyons Human Services and Aging Commission and served as a liaison to the Special Housing Committee during its existence from April 2015-April 2016. She has lived in Lyons since 2003 and in the surrounding Lyons area since 1995.